Backroad Anthem Believe ‘Pushing Forward Is the Only Way’ After Craig’s Death

Backroad Anthem will play their first show since singer Craig Strickland's death this weekend. Just four days after Strickland's burial, the country band will perform on Saturday (Jan. 16) at George’s Majestic Lounge in Fayetteville, Ark. The concert will honor the singer.

In a recent interview with the Tennessean, Backroad Anthem explain how they'll power forward, revealing that Strickland would want them to continue without him.

“He would want us to move on more than anything,” bandmate Toby Freeman says. “Once we get past this stage, we’re going to dig down really deep as a band in writing and musically, and we’re going to make this happen.”

Fiddle player Eric Dysart agrees, explaining that it's Strickland's passion for the band that will keep them going.

“Not one moment was there ever a thought to any of us. Knowing the person Craig was, what he lived and breathed was the band, and his passion was something that none of us had seen before when we met him,” Dysart says. “We’ll forever be changed by that and pushing forward is the only way to do it.”

Before his last hunting trip, which claimed his life, Strickland was in Nashville with Freeman for a songwriting trip writing with producer Jody Stevens and songwriter Bart Butler, readying songs for their next album to shop to labels.

“I’ve met a lot of singers and a lot of songwriters over the years, and I’m not sure that I’ve met very many people that were as driven and exciting and had as vibrant personality as Craig,” Stevens explains. “But the band is so good that they’re going to be okay going into the future. Obviously, none of us will ever be able to forget that Craig had a very large part in getting them to this point."

Strickland's remains were found on Jan. 4, a week after a duck hunting trip went terribly wrong during Winter Storm Goliath. He was buried underneath a cedar tree on Tuesday (Jan. 12) in Arkansas.